noun
- Plural of hypercatalectic; lines of verse that have one or more extra syllables beyond the normal metrical pattern.
Usage: technical; prosody; literary criticism
Examples
- The poet employed hypercatalexes to create an unusual rhythmic effect in the final stanza.
- In analyzing the meter, the scholar identified several hypercatalexes that disrupted the expected iambic pattern.
- Hypercatalexes are less common than catalexes in traditional English verse.
- The use of hypercatalexes gave the poem a distinctive, off-balance quality.